today i found myself on the treadmill at the gym with jerry springer dangling dangerously close to my head. while i was happy to concentrate on the offerings of my blessed ipod, i couldn’t help but feel my eyes repeatedly drift to the subtitles on the tv above me, and the ridiculous spectacle that is daytime trash tv.

i noticed the guy next to me staring at the tv with a dazed, incredulous look on his face, and felt the need to share with him how just reading the subtitles was probably making us more stupid by the second.

after he left and i had no one else to bother, i came up with what i think is a pretty clever analogy for shows such as these: they are the modern day equivalent of the gladiator fights of ancient rome, where scary people fought and killed each other for the entertainment of the spectators. its pretty much just as pathetic.

on tv, the audience was egging the guests on, as their verbal fights became physical. they hooted, hollered and gave the thumbs up and thumbs down signs. they got off on a wife beating on a cheating husband and his pregnant girlfriend. oh, and everyone was about 200 pounds overweight.